Adjustable fluid seal



Y ec.*2f8,1948. A. J. SOLARI 2:457284 ADJUSTABLE FLUKID SEAL Filedsept.y 24,4 1945 u f7, /2// I x Patented 28,

Y'UNITED STATES APartir-i115 oFFlcE `Amine J. gggslillr 'to cranePacking Company, 'mf Illinois Chicago, lll., a corporation ApplicationSeptember 24, 1945, Serial Na-18,102

1 This invention relates tosealing devices and particularly to suchdevices which utilize a pair oi radially disposed relatively rotatablesurfaces to effect a seal.

There has been devised a seal of the foregoing type which is comprisedof a plurality of vlndividual elements all of which must be assembled intheir proper relation at the location where they areto be used. Thus theseal is comprised of a seal seat with a rubber mounting therefor, asealing washer adapted to cooperate with the seat, a sealing element foreffecting a seal between the washer and its support, a driving sleevefor the washer, a band for preloading one end of the sealing elementupon the support, the band being provided with means for driving thesleeve, a spring for urging the washer against the seat and a ferrulefor transmitting the spring pressure to the sealing element around thewasher. Although certain of these elements may be assembled at thefactory there still remain, nevertheless, a number of elements whichmust be handled separately at the location where the seal is to beinstalled, and in addition a number of relatively ne adjustments must bemade to make sure that the seal will function properly. Where the sealis to be used in a relatively inaccessible place, it becomes extremelydifficult to handle the elements of the seal individually and to makesure that they are properly located relative to one another.

Thus the principal object oi this invention is to provide a seal of thetype described which can be readily installed in relatively inaccessibleplaces.

Another object of this" invention is to provide a method of assembling aseal of the type def4 scribed in relatively inaccessible places, all ofthe elements of the seal being properly spaced relative' to one anotherfor the proper operation of the seal.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a seal which may beassembled for the most part at a place remote from that at which it isto be used so that it may be installed as a complete unit.

These and other objects and features of this invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description when taken togetherwith the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a schematic elevationof a device to which this invention is particularly well adapted; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of that portion of the 3 claim. (ci. ess-11)device to which the. seal of this invention lmay be applied. Referringnow to Fig. 1 for a description of a typical application for a seal andmethod of this invention, there isshown a deep well rotary pump drivingmechanism. the pump itself not being shown sinc'e it forms no part ofthis invention. The pump, however, is driven from a vertical shaft Iwhich rises upward into a housing II containing a drivingvmotor havingiield coils I2 and an amature I3 mounted on a hollow shaft I4. Saidhollow shaft I4 passes upward through housing II around shaft I0 into achamber formed by a removable cover I5 where it is secured by means of anut I8 to a driving coupling II. Coupling I1 is keyed at I8 to the topof shaft III, said shaft I0 likewise being supported from'coupling I1 bya nut I9 which is threaded over the end of shaft I0. Suitable bearingsare provided for supporting shafts Il and I0.

Housing Ii and the motor contained therein are removably mounted on abase casting 2i which in turn is removably mounted on a suitablefoundation (not shown) by a ilange 22. Within base casting 2i is anelbow 23 which' is connected at its lower end to the pipe (not shown)leading to the pump, and at its other end to a side outlet pipe 26. Itwill be seen that shaft It is centrally located with respect to thebottom opening of elbow 23 and continues on upward through the elbowwall to the motor housing II. It is at the region where the shaft IUpasses through the elbow wall that a seal is required.

b This regionx is shown vby a rectangle 25 in Fig. l.

Referring now to Fig. 2 for an enlarged view of the sealing apparatus,it will be seen that elbow 23 is formed with an offset 26 having aninternal circular flange 21 which is substantially normal to theaxis ofrotation of shaft I0. On flange 2'I is mounted a sleeve housing 28having' a flange 28 which overlies flange 2l and which is secured toflange 21 by a plurality of bolts 3d. Said sleeve housing 28 has amachined opening' 3i which Iis threaded at its upper end 32 to receivean adjusting sleeve 33. Said sleeve 33 is provided with a threadedsection 2d cooperating with threaded end 32 of the opening 2i and alsowith a relatively smooth section 35 in which is formed a rectangulargroove 36. Within groove 36 is located-an endless resilient ring ofrubber or' synthetic rubber 31 having a substantially circularcross-section in its free state, but which is distorted when mounted ingroove 36 so as to substantially completely illl the groove, a smallarea of the groove being left untllled to permit 3 the ringto expand.Said ring 31 forms a fluidtight seal between adjusting sleeve 33 and thesleeve housing 28.

Adjusting sleeve 33 is formed with an axially extending flange 38 onwhich is mounted a subassembly of the seal. Said sub-assembly comprisesa sealing washer 39 mounted within a driving sleeve 48 and sealed withrespect to flange 38 by a flexibledeformable sealing element 4|. One endofthe sealing element 4| is preloaded upon flange 38 by means of adriving band 42 which has a series of lugs 43 extending into slots 44 insleeve 40'to provide a slidable driving connection therebetween. Oneendl of sealing element 4| is formed with a flange 45 which bearsagainst the back of sealing washer 39. A shoulder 48 formed in sleeve 40bears against a washer 41 which in turn bears against flange 45 onsealing element 4|. A spring 48 is compressed between the end of sleeve40 and a groove 49 in adjusting sleeve 33 to provide a force urgingwasher 39 axially downward.

The remainder of the seal is comprised of a seat member 50 which is indirect contact with washer 39 through radially disposed sealing surfaceson said element, said seat member 50 being mounted on a rubber or otherresilient ring 5| in such a ln all directions relative to shaft Ithereby adjusting itself to misalignment between the shaft and adjustingsleeve 33. Said ring is pressed upon shaft l0 so that a driving force iscreated in the ring tending to turn ring 5I and seat 50 with shaft I0.The axial thrust produced by spring 48 and transmitted through thewasher 39, seat 50 and deformable ring 5| is taken by a retainingcolla-r 52 which is maintained in its proper position ln shaft ||l byone or more set screws 53. In order to prevent dirt or other foreignmaterial from falling into the space between adiusting sleeve 33 andshaft IIi a dirt seal 54 is provided, which seal is pressed into arecess 55 in the upper end of adjusting sleeve 33. The adjusting sleeveis held against rotation by a locking screw 56 which passes through anopening 51 in a flange 58 on sleeve 33 into threaded hole 59 in sleevehousing 28.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that in order toassemble the seat 59 on shaft ||l it is necessary first to locate collar52 at the proper point on shaft I0, adjust the set screw 53, then slideflexible ring 5| over shaft Il) until it abuts collar 52 and finally toslide seat ring 50 over shaft Il) and force it over flexible ring 5|thereto to achieve the proper driving relation between .seat ring 50 andflexible ring 5|. The first-mentioned sub-assembly is assembled by firstplacing washer 41 around flange 45 on exible sealing element 4I, thensliding driving sleeve 40 over the ferrule and ange and nally slidingdriving band 42 over the end of flexible element 4| with the lugs 43 inthe notches 44. Spring 48 is thenA clipped over driving sleeve 40, andwasher 39 is placed within sleeve 40 until it abuts dange 45 on thesealing element 4|. The entire sub-assembly .is then slid upon itssupport until the spring is compressed the proper amount or until flange42 is located properly upon its support. Obviously, the manner ofassembly just described would be extremely dilcult to carry out if allof it had to be done piece by piece, at the elbow 23.

The method ci' assembling the complete sealing device on shaft I0 inaccordance with this invention is as follows:

`manner that the seat member is free to move With the housing II removedtogether with armature I3, hollow shaft I4 and coupling I1, shaft I0 lsplaced in the well through elbow 23 to approximately the position thatit will occupy in operation. Sleeve housing 28 is then bolted to elbow23. A mark is placed on the shaft correspending to the top of the sleevehousing. Shaft Ill is then raised from the well and retaining collar 52is slid over the end'of the shaft to a point below the mark a distancecorresponding to the location of collar 52 relative to the top of sleevehousing 28 shown in Fig. 2. Collar 52 is secured to the shaft at thispoint by tightening set screw 53. The rubber or resilient ring 5| isslid over the end of the shaft until it abuts collar 52. The seat ring50 is likewise slid over the end of shaft |0 and is forced over rubberring 5| to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The sub-assembly comprising resilient sleeve 4| driving band 42, drivingshell 40, washer 41 and spring 48 is assembled by the seal manufacturerand is supplied to the pump manufacturer as a unit. Adjusting sleeve 33is then fitted with the dirt seal 54 by pressing the latter into therecess 55 and the above sub-assembly is pressed upon axial flange 38 tothe position shown at Fig. 2. Washer 39 is then inserted into theopening formed by shell and, if desired, may be cemented to flange ofresilient sealing element 4|. It will be noted that in the positionshown in Fig. 2 the resilient sealing element 4I is not compressed4 tovits limiting position in the direction of driving band 42 so thatwasher 39 and the movable parts of the sub-assembly may be moved axiallyrelative to flange 38 a small distance. Sealing ring 31 is yplaced inits groove 36 and the adjusting sleeve'33 is then slid over the end ofshaft I0 and the shaft is reinserted into elbow 23 and the well. HousingIl and the enclosed motor can now be placed in position and secured tothe base casting 2|. Coupling l1 is secured to shafts l0 and I4 andshaft I3 is located in its proper position by adjusting nut I9 beforeadjusting sleeve 33 is positioned. Adjusting sleeve 33 is now turned inthe direction of advancing it toward seat ring until the end of flange38 on sleeve 33 is pressed against ring 50. This is merely for thepurpose of locating the seal subassembly initially relative to the seatring 50, since in operation it is not desirable to have flange 38contacting the seat ring 50. After ange 38 is pressed against the seatring, sleeve 33 is turned back approximately one turn until lockingscrew `56 is aligned with the opening 59. This fixes the position of thesleeve and sub-assembly relative to seat ring 50 the proper distance forbest performance. and thereafter serves to prevent sleeve 33 fromturning relative to sleeve housing 28 and altering the optimum spacingbetween the seal seat and sub-assembly. A suitable opening (not shown)is provided in base casting 2| through which the various aclustmentsjust described can be made. The coupling I1 is then secured in Iplaceand the pump is ready for use.

It will be observed that although the seal is below the surface offlange 21 of elbow 23 so that it is relatively inaccessible andcertainly not readily visible, nevertheless the entire seal is properlylocated on shaft ||l in relation to elbow 23 until washer 39 is too wornfor further use.

Thus it is possible for the seal manufacturer to supply the sealsub-assembly and if necessary the sleeve associated therewith so thatthe one installing the pump and its motor need not be an Locking screw56 is then tightened and a groove facing the smooth portion,

expert in the art of mechanical seals and need have only such knowledgeas is required to tighten for example. The is simple and acof exa glandon a stuffing. box method of installing the seal curate and isapplicable to various forms ible seal sub-assemblies.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrativeof a preferred embodiment of this invention and that the scope of theinvention therefore is not to be limited thereto but is to be determinedby the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sealing device for relatively rotatable members which comprises asealing ring, an adjustable abutment for the ring on one of the members,a seal sub-assembly including an axially movable washer, and means for'mounting the sub-assembly on the other member, said other member havinga threaded opening therein, said p i means including a sleeve insertableinto the threaded opening around the rst-mentioned member and havingthreads cooperating with the threads of the opening, means for effectinga seal solely between the sleeve and the mounting means, an axialextension on the sleeve aligned with a 'portion of the ring, means orsealing the washer with respect to the extension, said sub-assemblybeing compressible such that the extension may be advanced by means othe threads into contact with the ring after the washer has contactedthe sealing ring, and means for locking the sleeve against rotation,thereby to fix the sleeve axially relative to the ring.

2. A sealing device for relatively rotatable members which comprises asealing ring, an adjustable abutment for the ring on one of the members,a seal sub-assembly including an axially movable washer, and means formounting the sub-assembly on the other member, said other member havingan opening therein which is threaded over a portion of its length andsmooth over the remainder of its length, a sleeve insertable into thethreaded opening around the rst mentioned member and tion cooperatingwith the threads in the opening packing having a threaded por means inthe groove contacting the smooth pora seal solely between the sleevetionand effecting and the mounting means, an axial extension on the sleevealigned with a portion of the ring,

means for sealing the washer with respect to the extension, saidsub-assembly being compressible such'that' the extension may be advancedby means of the threads into contact with the ring after the washer hascontactedthe ring, Yand means for locking thereby to nx the sleeveaxially relative to the ring.

3. A sealing device for relatively rotatable -members which comprises asealing ring, lan adjustable abutment for the ring on one` of themembers, a seal sub-assembly including an axially movable washer, andmeans sub-assembly on the other member in such manner that the movablewasher contacts the sealing ring, said other member having a threadedopen'- ingthereon, said means including a sleeve insertable into thethreaded opening around the firstmentioned member and having threadscooperating with the threads in the opening, effecting a seal solelybetween the sleeve and the mounting means, an axial extension on thesleeve aligned with a portion of the ring and concentric with theaxially movable washer, means for sealing the washer with respect to theextension, said sub-assembly being compressible such that the extensionmay be advanced by means oi the threads into contact with the ring afterthe washer contacts the ring, and means for locking the seal againstrotation, thereby to fix the sleeve axialy relative to the ring.

. ARC J.

REFERENCES @FEED The followingreferences are o'f record in the le ofthis patent:

U STA'I'ES PATENTS Strid July 23, 1946 the sleeve against rotation,

for mounting the means for

